There has been a long history for the plastic surgeon in National Taiwan University Hospital to treat the craniofacial anomalies of the children. But not until the setup of our new Children’s Hospital, a medical team, which comprised of experts from many specialty, was truly formed, and dedicate to the treatment of various domains in craniofacial area, like craniofacial trauma, vascular malformation, cleft lip and palate, microtia, and others.

In general, craniofacial problems encountered in children could be classified into two main Categories: "Congenital craniofacial anomalies" and "Craniofacial Neoplasms".

Congenital Craniofacial Anomalies

Congenital craniofacial anomalies include craniosynostosis, facial clefts, and other conditions such as microsomia and microtia. Aside from the outlook abnormalities, these children also encounter more complicated clinical problems dealing with many organs, like neurological, respiratory, cardiovascular systems, and may have difficulties regarding intelligence, vision and hearing, swallowing and language, dental and occlusion, and even limb deformities.

Pediatric Craniofacial Neoplasms

Regarding the neoplasms in craniofacial region, the major difference of between pediatric and adult is that, although the former is usually pathological benign, but their invasive behavior made the treatment very challenging. These tumors include fibrous dysplasia, vascular and lymphatic malformations, and neurofibromas, etc. They can invade important structures in craniofacial region such as nerves and blood vessels, areas like eye sockets, intracranial areas, and pharynx, causing significant outlook deformities, functional disabilities and even life-threatening. Moreover, the margins of these tumors are often unclear, making complete resection more difficult, the reconstruction is more challenging, and unfortunately, the recurrence is common. These patients usually need long-term treatment and follow-up. And if the neoplasm was proved to be malignant, more extensive resection and microsurgical reconstruction is usually needed.

With the opening of our Children's Hospital in 2008, a multi-discipline craniofacial teams began to operate, and achieved promising results. On 2023, the team was approved by the authority of the hospital to upgrade to " National Taiwan University Hospital Center for Craniofacial Medicine and Morphological Sciences". This is the first craniofacial center established in a public medical center in Taiwan.

With the cooperation between our professional team members, and with the employment of up-to-date new treatment technologies, we hope to provide full-scaled, comprehensive services to all the people with craniofacial problems.